Friday, February 10, 2017

Parashat BeShallach and Tu B'Shevat

Shabbat Shalom! This week is Tu B'Shevat, which is a traditionally
Kabbalistic festival to celebrate God's presence in the natural world.
In a Tu B'Shevat Seder, the Kabbalists walk us through four worlds,
which correlate with a different emanation of God, a different season of
our ecological world, and each is represented by a different kind of
fruit (those with inedible outsides, those with inedible insides, and
those which are wholly edible - in the last world we eat no fruit but
take special note of our other senses alight at the Seder).
The first world is Assiyah, Doing. This Shabbat's Parashat HaShavua is
Beshallach, the crossing of the Sea of Reeds. Our Torah tells us that
when faced with the sea, the Egyptian army catching up with the
Israelites, Moses prayed to God and God asks Moses what the heck he's
doing praying because it is time to act. Our sages tell us that the sea
didn't really part until Nachshon walked all the way into the sea up to
his nose. Nachshon is not meant to be a leader, he bears no formal
responsibility for the Israelites, but damned if he's going to stand
around and wait for someone else to act. Each one of us must know when
it is time to act, to take a first step on our own, to Do. In the world
of Assiyah, may we be Nachshon, walking right into seas of uncertainty
up to our noses, prepared for danger, for the sake of freeing our
people.
The second world is Yetzirah, Formation. In Bereshit,
when God created the world, God separated the waters from the earth and
sky on the second day, and separated the waters of the earth from the
dry land on the third. As the Children of Israel walked through the Sea
of Reeds on dry land, the water standing up on all sides of them, they
had a glimpse of creation, of the formation of the world, of the great
and mysterious power of nature. In the world of Yetzirah, may we take
note of nature, reflecting on the waters and dry lands that make up our
Earth, and pledge to protect both.
The next world is Briyah,
Creation. This Shabbat is also called Shabbat Shirah, the Shabbat of
Song, because of the songs the Israelites sang as they crossed the sea,
and because the Haftarah for this parasha is the story of Deborah, a
great judge and prophetess whose prophesies led to an important military
victory which she celebrated with a song. In the world of Briyah, may
we acknowledge the importance of our creative powers, how art,
literature and music can move our souls to do great things, how they
guide us through difficult tasks, how they help us process complex
emotions.
The final world is Atzilut, Nobility. Although the
Ten Commandments are given in the next parasha, Parashat BeShallach does
include a commandment to honor Shabbat. Even in all their wanderings
through the wilderness, they must keep camp for the whole of the seventh
day. The Israelites, the mixed multitudes, and the animals alike must
rest on the Sabbath. Rabbi Heschel referred to Shabbat as a "Sanctuary
in time," reiterating a more ancient idea that Shabbat is a small
portion of paradise. "The Sabbath," he said, "is the day on which we
learn the art of surpassing civilization." In the infinite world of
Aztilut, alongside God's ineffable nobility, may we give thanks for
Shabbat, for our communities, for any breaks we allow ourselves from the
outside world.
Chag hailanot Sameach!